In the 19th century, there was no doubt that the best American literature tended to be from New England. Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau remain staples of high school and college reading lists.

'100 Years of the Best American Short Stories' is loaded with recent writers, and is a chance to consider the anthology's effects. ... Alice Munro won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature.

His collection offers a rare look into the foundations of American literature. Accessibility links. ... He really believed the best literature available had ended by the time the 20th century began.

Literature: A Bridge to the Past: Discover what life was like in Jasper County, Ill., at the time of the Civil War, when Irene Hunt’s novel “Across Five Aprils” takes place.

Inflamed, impertinent and deeply insightful, D.H. Lawrence’s “Studies in Classic American Literature” remains startlingly relevant 100 years after it was originally published.